Cheers...to avoiding a ‘nanny state’
Everyone seems to agree that “distracted driving” is a bigger problem than ever these days. But in the same breath, it seems, everyone equates distracted driving with more specific things that distract us behind the wheel. We eat food, drink coffee, switch the radio station, apply makeup, shave, read a newspaper, yell at the kids in the back seat and, most of all, gab on our cell phones or, worse yet, text people using our cell phones.
It’s that last distraction, texting, that’s leading some governments to crack down on distracted driving. In Grand Forks, the city council is mulling just such a ban, but things hit a speed bump earlier this week when council members disagreed on how far to extend a new prohibition. Should it just cover texting while driving, as some want, or should it be a more blanket law that covers distracted driving in general?
The disagreement means the debate is heading back to the committee level.
If Grand Forks City Council members are smart, they won’t touch “distracted driving” in general with a ten-foot pole. As Hal Gershman stated, it would lead to far too subjective enforcement. Would someone be stopped for staring at a construction project as they’re driving by, he wondered? Or, to take it further, go back to some of the distractions in the opening paragraph of this “Cheer.” Would a mom be pulled over for speaking to her kids in the backseat? Would someone be stopped for fumbling with the buttons on their radio?
Gershman said Grand Forks leaders are being accused of pushing a “nanny state.” A ban on distracted driving in general would confirm that notion. Go after texters by all means, because that is a nasty distraction. But somewhere, a line has to be drawn between a proactive, possibly overstepping government, and personal responsibility and/or common sense.
Jeers...to absurd theater
It started with a high school football player, Cretin Derham Hall’s Seantrel Henderson, going on live national TV a few months ago to announce he’d chosen the University of Southern California to play offensive line on their football team. He’s since been granted his request to back out of the commitment because the USC football program has been nailed by the NCAA for numerous violations.
Now, tonight, the world will get to watch, live on ESPN, NBA star and free agent LeBron James decide where he’s going to play for the next several years for hundreds of millions of dollars. LeBron’s “people” contacted ESPN, requesting that his announcement air live, and the sports network that’s too big for its britches drooled at the thought. An announcement that might take 10 seconds at the most is being stretched into a 60-minute show, entitled “The Decision.”
How dumb. How sad. James will likely ditch the Cleveland Cavaliers for Miami, New York or New Jersey, and we’ll get to watch Cavs fans throw up in their beer. Isn’t there a Lindsay Lohan court appearance we could all watch instead?
May LeBron James never win an NBA championship, unless he stays with the Cavaliers.
